Sports
10A
Tuesday, December 9, 2003
Simien's shots crucial to team
The University Daily Kansan
Coach Self upset over Jayhawks inability to get ball to junior forward, ineffectiveness against zone teams
By Chris Wintering
cwintering@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
In his team's loss to Stanford, Kansas coach Bill Self was upset because junior Wayne Simien did not get enough shots. The preseason All-American scored 10 points on 2-6 shooting from the field Saturday at the John Wooden Classic.
Self said that was unacceptable.
In the Jayhawks' 81-74 victory against the Spartans on Nov. 25, Simien scored a career-high 28 points on 9-12 shooting from the field.
John Nowak/Kansar
Sell said that was unacceptable.
He was equally disappointed that Simien only had four shot attempts against TCU, when the Leavenworth-native scored a season-low 6 points. However, these are not the only examples of when the coach has been disturbed at Simien's lack of touches. In fact, he doesn't think his big man has received the ball enough all year.
Simien is third on the team in shot attempts at junior Keith Langford and Aaron Miles. Self said that Simien
Senior center Jeff Graves held onto a fired-up Wayne Simien after a referee failed to call a foul during the Jayhawks game against Michigan State Nov. 25. Simien is the second-highest scorer on the team behind junior guard Keith Langford.
"It's more than two games in a row," Self said. "Go back to Michigan State where he got some touches, but he still only got 12 shots."
"I've got to find ways to get him the ball. He doesn't get enough
touches.*
Aaron Miles
Kansas guard
needed to get the ball for the Jayhawks to be successful.
be successful
“Our big guys can do a better job, but those guys are open on the post.” Self said. “You got to throw it to them. When guys are open you have to get the ball to them”.
"Ive got to find ways to get him the ball," Miles said. "He doesn't get enough touches."
Junior point guard Aaron Miles takes the blame for Simien's low shot totals. He said that it was solely his fault that Simien wasn't getting the ball.
Langford didn't think Miles shouldered all the blame for the problems in the post. He said that all the perimeter players were responsible for getting the ball inside, especially against a zone.
which Kansas saw almost exclusively against both Stanford and TCU.
Miles said that Simien should be upset about not getting the ball, but Simien thought he was as much to blame as anyone else. Simien said he thought he could work harder in the post to get open, but
his teammates could carry the team when he wasn't getting the ball.
"I draw a lot of attention, but I am not the only guy out there," Simien said. "There are four other guys with me who
SEE SIMIEN ON PAGE 6A
Team not intimidated by foe
Sophomore wide receiver Mark Simmons said he expected plenty of action from both offenses when the Jayhawks meet the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the Tangerine Bowl Dec. 22. Both Kansas and North Carolina State feature offenses ranked highly and defenses ranked lowly in Division-1 scoring rankings.
The Kansas football team refuses to give into hype around Tangerine Bowl
By Ryan Greene
rgreene@kansan.com
Kansan sportswriter
All signs point to the Tangerine Bowl being one of the highest scoring affairs of the 2003 college football season.
the 2005 North Carolina State's Philip Rivers is the nation's second-highest rated passer, while Kansas' Bill Whitemore is fifth.
Both offenses rank in the top 40 in Division-I in scoring.
Division-in scoring Both defenses have given up more than their fair share of points this season.
Even though all that hype is around, the layhawks aren't buying into it.
"It's not going to be an offensive shootout," sophomore receiver Mark Simmons said. "I think our defense will step up to the challenge. On offense, obviously we'll have to score points to win the game, but the object is just to score one more point than them. If we can do that, we're in good shape."
There is no doubt that the Kansas defense will have its hands full with Rivers. The four-year starter owns just about every ACC passing record known to man and is one of two quarterbacks in the nation to throw for more than 4,000 yards this season. All the Kansas secondary members can do is watch the film and prepare, as this will be a new experience for them.
"He was a Heisman Trophy candidate," junior safety Tony Stubbs said.
SEE FOOTBALL ON PAGE 6A
Wolfpack holds edge on Jayhawks in kicking
Tangerine Bowl 2003
Adam Kicker — Place Kicker
6-foot, 185 pounds, senior
Wadesboro, N.C.
Austin Herbert — Punter/Place Kicker
6-foot, 204 pounds; senior
Cary, N.C.
Key Stats — Opposite of Kansas' situation, North Carolina State's kicking situation has been consistent all season. Austin Herbert ranks third in the ACC with an average of 42.5 yards per punt, has strategically placed 18 punts inside the 20-yard line and has not been blocked. His booming kicks include a 76-yard punt. Wow.
Kiker has had things pretty easy this season. Playing for a team that is known to score touchdowns left and right, he is 48-for-51 on extra point attempts, and 12-for-16 in field goals. Kiker has not been put in a tough situation in terms of field goals this year, with only one of his attempts have come from more than 40 yards. That kick was 41 yards, and Kiker nailed it.
Accomplishments — Kiker's story is interesting, as he actually became the team's place kicker when Herbert suffered an ankle injury in 2001. Kiker, a
SEE 'PACK KICKING ON PAGE 6A
Johnny Beck — Place Kicker
6-foot-1, 215 pounds, junior
Kansas City, Kan.
Jerod Brooks — Place Kicker
5-foot-11, 215 pounds, junior
Ottawa, Kan.
Curtis Ansel — Punter 6-foot, 210 pounds, senior Lakin, Kan.
Key Stats — Punting: good. Kicking: bad. That's been the story of the 2003 season for the Kansas football team. Punter Curtis Ansel had another stellar season, ranking fourth in the Big 12 Conference
SPORTS: Contact II Hensley and Shane Mettlen at SPORTS@KANSAN.COM
averaging 41.41 yards per punt. That average ranked 49th in Division-IA, but his average of just 3.67 punts per game was the lowest average of anyone in the top 50. Place kicker Johnny Beck has one of the strongest legs in the Big 12, but for the second straight year, he struggled with putting the ball between the uprights. Beck was just 8-for-15 on field goals this year, including going 0-for-5 on kicks from 40 to 49 yards, and has failed on three extra point attempts. Late in the season, coach Mark Mangino made Jerod Brooks the kicker for short field goal attempts and extra points, leaving
SEE 'HAWK KICKING ON PAGE 6A
sports commentary
Joey Berlin
jberlin@kansan.com
Wilkes should join backcourt rotation
Every time a guard on the Kansas men's basketball team bounces another three-pointer off the rim, it gets harder for coach Bill Self to explain why he's allowing a top-100 recruit with the ability to hit that shot to sit unused at the end of the bench.
Freshman Omar Wilkes has been billed as a guard who can do a little of everything — shoot, defend, pass and handle the ball. But Wilkes hasn't gotten to do much of any of those, because he hasn't played a significant minute of action yet this season.
Before the season began, it looked like Wilkes would be talented enough to earn a spot in Kansas' regular rotation. Swingman J.R. Giddens and center David Padgett were the big prizes of this year's recruiting class, but Wilkes had drawn comparisons to former Jayhawk guard Steve Woodberry. He appeared to be more skilled than fellow freshman guard Jeremy Case and a good bet to take some playing time from Bryant Nash, who usually came off the bench last year.
Instead, Wilkes has hardly played, starting shooting guard Mike Lee broke his collarbone after two games and the team's three-point shooting has been even worse than expected. Frustrated by zone defenses that sag on its post players, Kansas has taken too many threes, 80, in its first four games while hitting only 22.
Jeff Hawkins and Keith Langford have shot respectable percentages, but five of Hawkins' six threees came against a TCU zone that dared Kansas' outside shooters to win the game, and shooting from outside the arc will never be Langford's primary role.
The real surprise is that Case, who wasn't regarded as highly as Wilkes, leapfrogged over him in the pecking order. With Lee out, Case has assumed the last spot in the rotation. He's averaging seven minutes a game in three games, scoring one basket.
a wing.
Self evidently thinks he has enough shooting guards but wants another backup point guard, and Wilkes doesn't fit that description. But with Kansas' shooting guards struggling with their long-range shots, Wilkes deserves minutes at his natural position.
Wilkes hit a three-pointer at the end of Kansas' loss to Stanford Saturday, which gave him his first basket of the season — and more points than Case in one-seventh of Case's minutes.
Self's most insightful comments about his view of Wilkes may have come last week, when he said, "I wish Omar was more of a point. Right now, he is more of a wing."
Self gave Hawkins, who didn't play much last year, an opportunity to contribute off the bench, and Hawkins has responded with adequate work so far. It's time Self gives Wilkes the same kind of opportunity to see if he can help solve Kansas' inconsistency at shooting guard. Otherwise, the comparison of Wilkes to Steve Woodberry breaks down — Woodberry played more than garbage minutes during his freshman year.
Giddens, an accomplished long-range bomber in high school, has hit just three out of 14 threes. Case, who former coach Roy Williams said was the best shooter he'd ever signed, hasn't hit a three yet in five tries. Aaron Miles is four out of 16.
When your team is lacking a great outside shooter, it's good to have as many options as possible — that way, if one guy is cold during a given game, you can try others until you find a hot hand.
Self has one usable bullet left in the chamber — Wilkes. But he's not using him. And his few comments about Wilkes in press conferences say little other than that he's "doing fine" or "is getting better."
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Berlin is a Leawood senior in journalism
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